An interview I had with Jonas, the vocalist of the Swedish Death metal band Aktaion.
Hi Jonas, is my pleasure talking with you, how things are going?
Hello, and thanks for taking the time in doing this interview!! Things are going great! Since we are back from Europe we had the pleasure to work with the artwork and promotional aspect of our next album. Things are looking great for the release and the rest of the year for us with more European live dates to be announced as soon as we know them!
Was nice seeing you in Bucharest, great show indeed. You have been in a Balkan tour along with Decapitated, Hate, Thy Disease and Krysthla, how was this tour?
The tour was amazing!! We had the opportunity to play alongside all these great bands you mention and we had a blast! The guys and Krysthla was our brothers in arms on the road as we traveled together, and we had the honor to watch all other four bands every night. They blew us away and we did our best to do the same!
You are ready to release your second album later this year, what can you tell about this release?
The coming album called ’’The Parade Of Nature’’ is the result of some intense months during the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016. Francis started quite early after the release of Throne to write the Parade of Nature. Despite the process being intense we managed to bring ourselves to the next level. Not to mention the fact that the songs Francis wrote for this album forced the band to convert into a new format of metal we now live in. In terms of my contribution I had to perform the vocal with a whole different emotional depth and I´m quite happy to say that I managed to do just that. The album became, in the vision of Francis, an epos to nature and the destruction of it as we know it, of course this destruction being a part of nature in a sort of dilemma. The lyrics deal with themes of aggression, selfishness in the face of global downfall as we come to terms with our dependence on nature but also themes such as loss and regret because of this. We have several videos coming out over the coming weeks towards to release of the album which will bring something special to the table. Working with “very metal art” on these, we have done something amazing we want everyone to see asap! Featured on the album we most notably got Christopher Amott (Ex-Arch Enemy and current Armageddon) who brought the most amazing solo to the title track of the album! We can´t wait for you to hear this one! Joey Concepcion (Armageddon and Dead by Wednesday) also brought his skills to bring the track “Stones into Sand” to the next level.
Last year you debuted with ”Throne”, what’s the story behind the album, the lyrical themes?
As Francis was the driving force behind our first album as well and wrote most of the material I just got a small insight. But I know some of the themes on Throne deals with loss, hate, critique towards institutionalized oppression as well as fear, death and of course love.
Have you got a good feedback aswell for ”Throne”?
The feedback for ’Throne’’ was amazing, both from fans and reviewers. The positive energy we got from the release convinced us that we had to take Aktaion to a new level, a second album and most recently to the Balkans!
When it comes about influences, what inspires you to create the music?
As Francis is the driving force behind the band as a whole and the music itself I´d struggle with answering this myself.
If you can mention at least 5 of your favorite albums.
Rising – Rainbow
Hot Rats – Frank Zappa
Vol 4 – Black Sabbath
L’enfant Sauvage – Gojira
Mechanical Animals – Manson
Underground metal scene is growing in Sweden, what is your opinion about it, do you know other metal bands that you consider are good?
The underground scene in terms of death metal might be growing although the live-scene might be struggling a bit. People are having a hard time supporting live music, especially when it comes to underground. But we are doing our best in making a name for ourselves around our hometown to get people out of their homes and onto the venues! But we do have great bands which are active in the scene such as despite which brings an djent-onslaught and stands alone around Gothenburg in this regard!
After the ”Blood Mantra” tour, will you be on the road again soon?
We will! We are hitting the road around the beginning of August for a couple of dates in Sweden, as part of the release of the album. Then we are looking into returning to main land Europe as soon as we can! Right now we might be coming back to the Balkans in November where we will visit more of Europe as well
What message do you have for the metalheads?
The metalheads we met all over Balkans was the most amazing people we met so far!! Please, just keep doing what you are doing, stay fucking amazing and keep an eye out for ”The Parade Of Nature’’.
Thank you Jonas for this interview, hope to see you soon again on the road. Skal!
Thanks to you and SKÅL!
https://www.facebook.com/Aktaion1
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